KVR :: Benedict Roff-Marsh » Previews of SynthStudio Pack III [View Original Topic]
There are 53 posts in this topic.
Benedict - Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:33 pm
Hi Y'all
At last I will break cover and give you an idea of the upcoming SynthStudio Pack III
As some of you know I debated not calling it SSP at all. I got shot down on that one and so I happily announce to you:
SynthStudio Pack III - Virgo Constellation
The Virgo bit comes from a long association I have had in my music with a mythical planet called Virgo 12. Constellation because it is a collection and then one of the synths took that name as well.
One of you knows that I even thought about this release being a single synth. But of course my nature got the better of me and SSP III is currently:
Virgo 12 - 12 voice .sf2 synth with 16-step sequencer (see below)
Tallis - the prototype for V12 with different filter structure w. 8-sep seq and a very different character
WaveScore - next in the WaveSphere/WaveLine series and great for film style sounds
Constellation V - 70's style string synth with a great character
Virgo 4 - 4 part chorus flanger for great wide sounds
SD-82 - a drive unit that specialises in subtlety but can get really really nasty if you break it (to answer a riddle SD-82 - special driver + 1982 = The Chauffer by Duran Duran)
Price is set to increase just a smidge, but I think that at $10 Australian (less for most of you) SSP III will continue my tradition of silly pricing.
I haven't set a release date yet as sounds are still being made, manuals don't exist and I need to build a whole new web site.
emdot_ambient - Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:38 pm
Excellent! Can't wait to have enough time to contribute some presets again! Benedict - Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:43 pm
emdot_ambient wrote:
Excellent! Can't wait to have enough time to contribute some presets again!I can't wait for that either Em. I think that there are some things in here that you will love.
opia - Sat Feb 23, 2008 4:53 pm
don't keep my finger hovering over the paypal button too long
Benedict - Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:03 pm
Here is some of the info I sent over to the Pro-fessional sound designer who has made all the sounds for Virgo 12.
Quote:
Virgo 12 pre User Manual
As you have noted most controls are pretty self explantory.
There are some Trim controls that sit next to Speed or Amount knobs that are often stepped to 3 or 5 amounts
to allow you to set ranges for modulation.
The Stepper/Pulser are perhaps the trickest parts to get in Virgo 12. Really Stepper and Pulser are
semi-separate functions but they will often be used together so they are placed that way.
Stepper and Pulser Speed is set by the same knob. Amounts sent to modulation destinations can be quantised to
Semitone amounts which is best for pitched sequences. Each Destination can be limited to +/- 1 octave to match
the numbers on the Stepper Pitch Knobs.
Stepper can be used for pitched sequences similar to arpeggiation, sequencing filters or other parameters &
as a step-LFO.
Pulser sends a gate pulse to the envelopes when selcted. Lentgh of the pulse is set by the small knobs under
the Stepper pitches. When a pulse length is set to 0 no gate is sent which creates a rest. The Tie buttons
add a full pulse length to the knob above effectively preventing the following gate from being sent and
sustaing the note.
Patch 2 shows this.
As you have noted most controls are pretty self explantory.
There are some Trim controls that sit next to Speed or Amount knobs that are often stepped to 3 or 5 amounts
to allow you to set ranges for modulation.
The Stepper/Pulser are perhaps the trickest parts to get in Virgo 12. Really Stepper and Pulser are
semi-separate functions but they will often be used together so they are placed that way.
Stepper and Pulser Speed is set by the same knob. Amounts sent to modulation destinations can be quantised to
Semitone amounts which is best for pitched sequences. Each Destination can be limited to +/- 1 octave to match
the numbers on the Stepper Pitch Knobs.
Stepper can be used for pitched sequences similar to arpeggiation, sequencing filters or other parameters &
as a step-LFO.
Pulser sends a gate pulse to the envelopes when selcted. Lentgh of the pulse is set by the small knobs under
the Stepper pitches. When a pulse length is set to 0 no gate is sent which creates a rest. The Tie buttons
add a full pulse length to the knob above effectively preventing the following gate from being sent and
sustaing the note.
Patch 2 shows this.
This is what I have heard so far
http://www.pro-sounds.net/Audio/SSP3/001.mp3
http://www.pro-sounds.net/Audio/SSP3/002.mp3
http://www.pro-sounds.net/Audio/SSP3/003.mp3
http://www.pro-sounds.net/Audio/SSP3/LoFiPiano.mp3
Benedict - Sat Feb 23, 2008 5:05 pm
opia wrote:
don't keep my finger hovering over the paypal button too long
I'll see what I can do for you Mr Dream
djgroovy - Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:40 am
That's good news.
I tried, but i would never get that riddle right...
Benedict - Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:31 pm
djgroovy wrote:
That's good news.
I tried, but i would never get that riddle right...
I tried, but i would never get that riddle right...
Yeah well if riddles were to easy there'd be no fun in them. I thought I got you close too.
Benedict - Thu Feb 28, 2008 6:43 pm
SD-82 is the drive unit that is upcoming in SSP III. I have often been frustrated by how most distrotion units are designed either for guitars or more recently simply to rip sounds apart. I have for some time been interested in a distortion unit that can be used on strings or other synth sounds as a kind of analog warmer or can whip up some interesting tones.
1. Low or Hi pass Filter
2. 4 types of Drive from soft to ugly - note the gain can be entered manually allowing you to enter silly numbers
3. Multi Mode Filter
4. LFO for the 2nd Filter which operates as eiter a standard LFO or at audio rates for interesting distortions
5. Mixer
6. Noise Gate - which you will need if you intend to break this unit
djgroovy - Fri Feb 29, 2008 12:52 am
Very interesting!
emdot_ambient - Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:28 am
Benedict wrote:
SD-82 is the drive unit that is upcoming in SSP III. I have often been frustrated by how most distrotion units are designed either for guitars or more recently simply to rip sounds apart.
That's also a concern I've had for quite a while now. Looking forward to this, as it's a much needed tool. djgroovy - Fri Feb 29, 2008 1:38 pm
I use Ableton Live, which has the very nice Saturator, i'm guessing this will be kind of like that? More warmth and punch instead of hell brake loose distorted?
Benedict - Fri Feb 29, 2008 3:44 pm
Can't say I know the saturator in Live but SD-82 can be very subtle so you need to A/B to hear a difference. Listeners don't need to know that you used distortion.
When I finally get around to making music again I think I will use this a bit.
thecontrolcentre - Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:08 pm
Looking good Benedict ... can't wait
Benedict - Fri Feb 29, 2008 4:21 pm
thecontrolcentre wrote:
Looking good Benedict ... can't wait
Nor can I, it's pretty well all the boring stuff left to do and I want to make music instead oo writing manuals
Benedict - Mon Mar 17, 2008 2:51 am
Hi Y'all
Patches for Virgo 12 are done and they are great. 48 of them come from Pro Sounds and the final 16 are from me. This is a cool synths if I do say so myself.
Something I have spoken of a bit on the boards is Constellation V, my take on a 1970's String Synth - alto as you hear capable of so much more. Here's a bit about him:
Here is an audio demo of some patches. First string is raw. Other sounds have Virgo 4 (quad chorus form SSP III) and some reverb from Space (from SSP I). last sound is called The Steps and maybe a few of you will know why
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com/Stuff/constellationv_audio.mp3
emdot_ambient - Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:55 am
Hmm...intere-string
runagate - Mon Mar 17, 2008 7:13 am
emdot_ambient wrote:
Hmm...intere-string
emdot_ambient - Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:48 am
runagate wrote:
emdot_ambient wrote:
Hmm...intere-string
My bad.
Benedict - Mon Mar 17, 2008 3:12 pm
emdot_ambient wrote:
runagate wrote:
emdot_ambient wrote:
Hmm...intere-string
My bad.
Yes very bad.
Benedict - Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:20 am
If one were to look, one may find - some things
djgroovy - Sat Mar 29, 2008 1:30 am
Yay, i'm the first one.
Congratulations, Benedict. The new pages look much better, and ssp3 is shaping up nicely.
emdot_ambient - Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:31 am
Really nice redesign, there Benedict! Took me a bit to find it.
Hmm...the Tallis detail screen is a bit too big...can't scroll down it and can't access the sound demo.
Liking what I've seen/heard other than that!
emdot_ambient - Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:34 am
Virgo4 typo: "...took on a live of its own..."
Az're-ul - Sat Mar 29, 2008 9:25 am
Benedict wrote:
If one were to look, one may find - some things
There is? Gives up and goes away for a couple of hours muttering under his breath. Comes back
emdot_ambient wrote:
Really nice redesign, there Benedict! Took me a bit to find it.
Looks around a bit more - ah ah! Yep nice redesign, I like the info windows especially
emdot_ambient wrote:
Hmm...the Tallis detail screen is a bit too big...can't scroll down it and can't access the sound demo.
Okay here as 1280 x 1024, but it is a bit big especially when you consider some widescreen monitors are only 900 pixels high. Doesn't appear to be anything linked to the Tallis play button at the moment.
On the subject of the audio demos, it might just be my computer or firefox but all the audio demos navigate to another page when they play. If its not just me and space permitting (no pun intended) Benedict could you add an embedded mp3 player instead? Sorry this is just a pet peeve of mine
Cheers
Steve
Benedict - Sat Mar 29, 2008 3:38 pm
Thanks all
The first few SSP III licenses have rolled out already
I have resized the Tallis image making the window smaller. The Play button has nothing to play as yet - the Java brings up the hand icon.
Virgo 4 spello is sorted.
I thought on an internal player but the one my web builder uses is Win Media and I can't be sure you all have it and it looks ickky. Maybe I can look for a neat Flash unit so I look like NI
I get a new window myself in XP and IE here for many mp3 esp from KVR (but not my site) 
Not sure why it can take a few clicks to be swapped from my old page to the new. May be a cache thing - or maybe...
Benedict - Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:16 pm
Sorted
Had .htm and .html so there was some confusion
thecontrolcentre - Sat Mar 29, 2008 4:24 pm
New site is looking good
How long until Tallis is ready? Benedict - Sat Mar 29, 2008 6:05 pm
thecontrolcentre wrote:
New site is looking good How long until Tallis is ready?
How long until Tallis is ready?Thanks CC
and I'm not sure on Tallis - still waiting on sounds
Don't worry as he will come
antoine.bertier - Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:02 am
Benedict wrote:
Sorted
Had .htm and .html so there was some confusion
Had .htm and .html so there was some confusion
There seem to be still some .htm vs .html confusion, in particular on the purchase page (unfortunately
). All Purchase links refer to
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com/purchase.htm
which gives a 404 instead of
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com/purchase.html
which works fine. And I really like the look of the new site !
Benedict - Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:13 am
Thanks Antoine
Seems like I made a mess of the whole .htm/.html thing. I prefer the L but my web maker doesn't like it so much so i ended with a mishmash which of course doesn't work real well.
I think it is sorted now
Az're-ul - Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:42 am
A very nice addition to the SynthStudio series, some beautiful sounds in there.
So far III seems to be a more coherent package with the synths complimenting each other, really looking forward to hearing Tallis now
emdot_ambient - Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:40 am
Just got all the available SSPIII stuff downloaded to me lappy
...just wish I had a nice LITTLE MIDI controller to use with it. I hate trying stuff using the QWERTY...need to get a mouse for this damned thing, too. Benedict - Sun Mar 30, 2008 6:49 pm
Thanks Az
It would seem that a few ppl are having issues with Virgo 12 and extracting. In theory it should look like
{Virgo 12}
- Virgo 12.dll
-{Virgo 12}
- .sem files (autogenerate on first run)
- {Pro Sounds}
- default.sf2 114 MB
Maybe because I put a .rar inside the .zip file. It seemed ok at the time. I will look at it this eventing.
Thanks for being patient. I knew there would be issues I couldn't see so thanks for being guinea pigs for me so my main release goes smoother.
antoine.bertier - Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:41 pm
Benedict wrote:
{Virgo 12}
- Virgo 12.dll
-{Virgo 12}
- .sem files (autogenerate on first run)
- {Pro Sounds}
- default.sf2 114 MB
Actually the Virgo 12 subdirectory ends with a space:
-{Virgo 12 }
=======^== space here
I think the problem is with this subdirectory, since unzipping without the paths works fine, but once the subdirectory has been created by Virgo, it seems it cannot be moved. So it has some special properties, either due to its names, its access rights, or something else...
Benedict - Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:08 am
Hi Y'all
I think it is sorted now. I had accidentally put a space in the .dll file which caused some of the grief. I think the .rar inside the .zip caused some more
The d/l is now 99.9MB (sorry) but it should be simpler for all. I have also put what the file structure should look like in the Read Me so...
emdot_ambient - Mon Mar 31, 2008 3:30 am
Thanks for working on that Benedict. I've downloaded new V12 version...no time to try an install right now (off to the gym) but will give it a go later.
Az're-ul - Mon Mar 31, 2008 4:54 am
Benedict wrote:
Hi Y'all
I think it is sorted now.
I think it is sorted now.
All working now
antoine.bertier - Mon Mar 31, 2008 2:14 pm
Benedict wrote:
Hi Y'all
I think it is sorted now. I had accidentally put a space in the .dll file which caused some of the grief. I think the .rar inside the .zip caused some more
I think it is sorted now. I had accidentally put a space in the .dll file which caused some of the grief. I think the .rar inside the .zip caused some more
Yep, works fine now !
Benedict - Mon Mar 31, 2008 5:26 pm
Wonderful
So we have established that I am too smart for my own good and BIGGER is better.
Benedict - Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:33 am
Links posted. Thanks
So how are we going with SSP III - very quiet so either you are all busy going fzzzt, bwing, brawwwr, and boing! or you are no longer hoping I will father your children (for you)?
opia - Thu Apr 03, 2008 1:52 am
well I'm not ready for kids yet but I did get Virgo12 sorted out and now I'm too busy going brrmmmm,zzzzziiinnnggg,wrrrrrrrrrrr
Benedict - Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:36 am
opia wrote:
well I'm not ready for kids yet but I did get Virgo12 sorted out and now I'm too busy going brrmmmm,zzzzziiinnnggg,wrrrrrrrrrrr
and maybe later then emdot_ambient - Thu Apr 03, 2008 2:45 am
SSP III has joined the growing ranks of must-load software, including my Christmas presents, Gmedi's Virtual String Machine and Adobe's Audition 3 upgrade
3 Granville songs left to go...
Benedict - Thu Apr 03, 2008 3:48 am
Thanks Em
I'm dying to hear what you think of Constellation V...
Benedict - Thu Apr 03, 2008 11:47 pm
Posted Thanks
tERMoBLUe - Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:50 am
i read u newsletter
...nice supply - order soon ...thx
<2°TRo²³
antoine.bertier - Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:38 am
I decided to use SSPIII to experiment with hyperion the new midi sequencer from xoxos. The result is here:
http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_152.php
Beside xoxos hyperion and midilegato, and a limiter, there is only SSPIII: You have one instance of each synth, and two of each effect.
I was more focused on trying to understand how to control hyperion, than to showcase SSPIII, but nevertheless I found the set very versatile and easy to use.
Benedict - Sun Apr 27, 2008 7:57 pm
antoine.bertier wrote:
I decided to use SSPIII to experiment with hyperion the new midi sequencer from xoxos. The result is here:
http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_152.php
Beside xoxos hyperion and midilegato, and a limiter, there is only SSPIII: You have one instance of each synth, and two of each effect.
I was more focused on trying to understand how to control hyperion, than to showcase SSPIII, but nevertheless I found the set very versatile and easy to use.
http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/song_focus_152.php
Beside xoxos hyperion and midilegato, and a limiter, there is only SSPIII: You have one instance of each synth, and two of each effect.
I was more focused on trying to understand how to control hyperion, than to showcase SSPIII, but nevertheless I found the set very versatile and easy to use.
Cool I will listen after work
Benedict - Mon Apr 28, 2008 12:42 am
Hi Antoine
I went to the link and can seem to see the song cover and name but unless Ihave gone silly (always possible) I couldn't find a link to the music.
??
antoine.bertier - Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:23 pm
Benedict wrote:
Hi Antoine
I went to the link and can seem to see the song cover and name but unless Ihave gone silly (always possible) I couldn't find a link to the music.
??
I went to the link and can seem to see the song cover and name but unless Ihave gone silly (always possible) I couldn't find a link to the music.
??
There should be a tiny "play" triangle icon next the "streaming only" message at the right of the song title.
Otherwise try here
http://www.wusiklabel.com/members/82/
it should be the first song in the player.
Benedict - Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:17 am
Aaah I can find it now - silly me but because I'm rapped in dial up land till my month expires I can't listen within those Flash players. I will endeavour to come back when I have bandwidth again.
Benedict - Sat May 10, 2008 12:26 am
At last I have ADSL speed again. My life is whole again - that and I can listen to this piece.
Melodically it is modern. I guess that is the Hyperion bit. The sounds are interesting and I can recognise the SSP texture.
Just having a poke at Hypno Sleep too. Sounds realy nice.
There are 53 posts in this topic.